From: Subject: Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2007 01:48:22 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.musicianwar.com/newsletter_archive.mw?id=29 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3028 =EF=BB=BF
                Unsubscribe at:
      http://www.guitarwar.com/first.php


                GUITAR WAR NEWS
Volume 40                                   4/7/03


                 CURRENT EVENTS

        "New Feature: Guitar War Tricks"

 At the suggestion of Guitar War's theJonezter,=20
Guitar War News will now be including a column=20
entitled "Guitar War Tricks" where members will be=20
able to submit various "tricks," whether they be=20
licks, mixing tips, recording tips, mastering=20
tips, etc., that will be published in the next=20
week's newsletter. He will be writing a number of=20
these to start, but eventually we will be taking=20
submissions from guitar war members, so if you're=20
interested in contributing, reply to this e-mail=20
to ask how to go about submitting a "trick."=20
                               -Zarathustra


*******************************************
               ADVERTISEMENT
*******************************************
New program to learn guitar in 30 days

click here:
http://www.guitartips.com.au/cgibin/affiliates/click.cgi?id=3D270
*******************************************



               GUITAR WAR TRICKS

Making your rhythm tracks sound "huge" with one=20
pass:

 Olive made this request and I thought it was a=20
good idea to post as a tip. How do you make your=20
rhythm tracks sound huge, or wide, or full? Well,=20
there's a fairly simple answer to this and more=20
than one answer. Panning and layering.
 Panning is something you need to be careful with=20
since you can make the song too wide sounding and=20
take away from the whole picture as I did in my=20
recent song "Becker Tribute". I panned the lead=20
guitars 100% to each side and it kind of took=20
away from the whole mix. Panning to about 75%=20
will give each side a small amount of signal to=20
the other side giving a much clearer sound. Use=20
headphones when you are mixing stuff down and=20
listen to how "distant" the instrument you are=20
monitoring sounds and it should give you a good=20
idea on how it's going to sound in the mix on=20
regular speakers.
 Layering tracks can be tedious and time=20
consuming. Most people will record several rhythm
tracks and try to make it sound full using that=20
method. You can however get the same effect with=20
only one rhythm track in stereo. Most of my=20
rhythm tracks are just one guitar in stereo=20
unless I am doing some kind of harmony. Here's=20
what I do:
 Using Cool Edit Pro, I record one rhythm track=20
onto 2 separate tracks. I then pan those tracks=20
one to about 75% left and the other to about 75%=20
right. Now I have the stereo effect, but both=20
guitars are playing the same thing, so it still=20
sounds like one guitar playing in stereo. What I=20
do to solve this is zoom into the 2 tracks and=20
slide one track about .02 seconds from the other=20
track. This is basically what a chorus effect=20
does to your signal. Doing it this way will give=20
the track a dual guitar sound and sound much=20
fuller than just using chorus or flange on the=20
track.
 One little trick though, is if you decide to=20
record 2 sets of stereo rhythm guitars, adjust=20
the first tracks left pan and the other tracks=20
right pan. When you adjust each pan, it sends the=20
signal to the left or right in the pan. So=20
adjusting the second track oppositely will even=20
out the mix.
 Experiment with it and see how it sounds!
                              -TheJonezter
                       http://www.thejonezter.com


                   INTERVIEWS

A.K.A Capn Zilog=20
RANK: Competitor

GW: Why did you start playing?
Capn Zilog: It's the well-rounded person thing.=20
My folks thought I should take up an instrument=20
in elementary school, and asked me what I'd=20
prefer. Guitar is cheaper than a harpsichord,=20
quiter than drums and less annoying than banjo,=20
so they got me a kid's classical and packed me=20
off to lessons.

GW: How old were you?
Capn Zilog : I was 12. Didn't enjoy my teacher,=20
though- after several months of lessons I put the=20
guitar down and only dabbled with it until I was=20
15. By that time I'd discovered Led Zeppelin.=20
That said, I was introduced to reading music and=20
fingerstyle, and that's not a bad thing.

GW: What are some of the milestones in your =20
development as a player ?
Capn Zilog: Clearly it was the day I put all the=20
pieces together and decided to map out=20
pentatonic, and later the natural minor, scale=20
over the entire fretboard and memorize it. There=20
was almost no rock instructional material at that=20
time, and music mags were mostly posing questions=20
like "So what kind of cornflakes do you eat for=20
breakfast?" At the time, I had no certainty that=20
any of this effort would pay off in a practical=20
sense. My hometown was a musical vacuum, and=20
reinventing wheels was the order of the day. The=20
other most useful things I picked up along the=20
way were harmonizing, three-note-per-string=20
fingerings and economy picking.

GW: What were some of the hardest things for you=20
when you first started?
Capn Zilog:  Definitely memorizing my first=20
scales above. That's a lot information to attack=20
at once, and one thing I did was to put little=20
sticky-dot markers on the fretboard to help make=20
it visual. When I eventually took the markers=20
off, that was tough. Those dots were my training=20
wheels. Much later I took a sequence of music=20
theory classes in college. That was a real=20
challenge, because lots of these kids had already=20
gone through the whole high school jazz band=20
thing so for them it was second nature. Quick,=20
2nd inversion Emi7! If you had to think, you were=20
way behind.

GW: what is the most memorable moment in guitar =20
history for you?
Capn Zilog: God, there's so many- on the down=20
side, it was the loss of Randy Rhoads and SRV. On=20
the plus side, it was touring Criteria Studios in=20
Miami when Yngwie was recording "Inspiration,"=20
and sitting at Cozy's drum kit. Little did I know
that he a few years he would be gone too.

GW: Who did look up to then... And who do you=20
look up to now?
Capn Zilog:  If you've heard Van Halen, Yngwie=20
and Stevie Ray Vaughan then you've already heard=20
the most genre-defining guitar voices since=20
Hendrix. Everyone else, hard-rock wise, can be=20
fitted into a subcategory of those three. I don't=20
want to diminish all the other great players out=20
there, but those players are like the primary=20
colors of modern guitar.

GW: How do you get your inspiration?
Capn Zilog:  I think I rely less on other players=20
than I used to, which is a good thing. There=20
really aren't many bands that float my boat=20
anymore, and the Olympic extremes to which=20
"shred" has been taken makes that a musical=20
dead end. I just want to work on my songwriting,=20
and try to make my home-recorded pieces sound as=20
good as Tom Scholz did with Boston back in=20
1976. I'm not there yet, and it drives me nuts.

GW: What are some things you would tell anyone=20
who  is interested in learning to play the=20
guitar?
Capn Zilog:  Record yourself. Start with=20
something simple, like a Pandora PX4 so you can=20
have the basic experience of jamming along to=20
tracks with a metronome and hearing the result.=20
Nothing forces you to improve like hearing=20
your own cringifying performances played back!

GW: What equipment do you own now?
Capn Zilog :  I've gone through a lot of gear,=20
but we're living in great times today and it=20
doesn't take much. A POD, a MIDI drumset, a=20
guitar synth and a PC running SONAR. That's=20
pretty much my current setup, along with my=20
purple Ibanez S-550 guitar.

GW: What kind of music are you listening to at=20
the moment?
Capn Zilog:  Mostly DVD's, I'd say. There's a lot=20
of new releases from bands you could never see=20
before, such as Stratovarius, Emperor and Alice=20
Cooper's excellent "Brutal Planet." But for the=20
most part, I go back to my old favorite artists=20
over and over- the ones that everyone's familiar=20
with from about 1975-1985. I buy a lot of=20
Japanese imports, many just to keep up with the=20
state-of-the-art (Francesco Ferrerri's=20
"Suspension" is so over the top, I can't listen=20
to it for more than 10 minutes).

GW: How do you go about recording a song once=20
it's written?
Capn Zilog: That's tough, because they're usually=20
things that evolved in the studio. I rarely, if=20
ever, have a complete song all planned out before=20
hitting Record. Usually I'll have an idea or two=20
and use Cakewalk as a musical sketchpad with=20
which to experiment.

GW: How has Guitarwar helped your guitar playing?
Capn Zilog: I think many of the articles in=20
"Guitar School" are great. The biggest motivator,=20
I think, is simply reading advice from folks who=20
have already mastered the impossible, and are=20
accessible to boot. You don't need to be on a=20
major label to be a major player.=20

GW: If you can summarize how music has changed=20
your life in one word, say it:
Capn Zilog : Sanity. I need it to balance out the=20
technical half of my brain, and for the emotional=20
release. There's truth in music.

GW: what are your thoughts on the 500 club?
Capn Zilog:  Isn't that a religious show on=20
late-night TV? Whoops, that's the 700 Club. I'm a=20
little concerned that the ratings system could be=20
gamed by determined people. For example, if two=20
guys of equal ability were to agree to only=20
compete with each other, after enough entries=20
they'd both be guaranteed membership. Same goes=20
for the Collab Wars. But I do like the concept=20
that votes by the most experienced people carry=20
extra weight, there's something to be said for=20
that.
                               -ms_badly_behaved





 Want to write for the Guitar War Newsletter? Got=20
a hot product you want to review? Want to tell
the world how awesome a newsletter this is? Then
drop a line to newsguy@guitarwar.com. We're=20
looking for submissions, opinions, feedback, and
anything else you think we might need. Send an=20
e-mail to newsguy@guitarwar.com

                Unsubscribe at:
      http://www.guitarwar.com/first.php